A cable sent by the US Embassy in Paris in 2008 claims that Malta, as well as Cyprus and Greece, were not  supportive of additional measures against Iranian shipping line IRISL, including inspections of its vessels.

The Iranian line was (and still is) an important client at Malta Freeport, but several countries were pressing for tougher actions against Iran to control the possible transfer of nuclear technology.

The cable says that  Martin Briens, Office Director for Disarmament and Nuclear Non proliferation at the French Foreign Ministry was highly supportive of the U.S. approach and had supplied a good deal of information on suspect shipments to third countries as well.

France would have preferred an outright ban on companies such as IRISL, but this was unacceptable to its EU partners.

"Briens said that of the major EU shippers concerned, Denmark was highly supportive of the approach, but Cyprus, Malta and to a lesser extent Greece were not," the cable says.

"It was important to reach out to all of the latter three countries to sensitize them to the dangers involved," it added.